The Northwest received almost $330 million in Federal resources to revitalize our
communities, put people back to work and speed America back on the road to
recovery from what has come to be called “The Great Recession.”

In passing the Recovery Act, the Congress and the President specified a
wide range of activities to which state, county and city governments hard hit
by the downturn could apply Recovery Act funds – your tax dollars – from
meeting critical capital needs to expanding the supply of affordable housing,
from preventing homelessness to helping small businesses gain access to much
needed capital. Under the Act, those local governments were given full
authority to decide for themselves the specific what’s, where’s and how’s of
the projects that would best benefit their communities.

Here are some of the programs that will be funded
by the Federal money in the King County area:

• Promoting Energy Efficiency and Creating Green Jobs
• $40,250,758 to Washington State’s 29 housing authorities.
• $14,863,303 to 30 tribal organizations in Washington.
• Lead Hazard Reduction/Healthy Homes – $6,725,000 to to King County, City of Spokane
  and State of Washington.
• Supporting Shovel-Ready Projects and Assisted Housing Improvements
• Promoting Stable Communities and Helping Families Hardest Hit by the Economic Crisis
• Emergency Shelter Grant Program/Homelessness Prevention – $24,948, 653 to 10 grantees in Washington.

Congress approved the extension of the first time homebuyer tax credit, but we are not out of the woods yet.  The question is now whether or not Senate will give their blessing and pass this first time home buyer tax credit.  There are many reasons to support the bill.  For instance, a study done by the National Association of realtors (NAR) found an average of $63,000 is injected into the economy for each home sale.  Our national economy is recovering but still delicate at this point.  Removing the tax credit now, during the slow season, could undo all the work that was accomplished by installing the homebuyer advantage.

(more…)